The Roman Way
by TheClassicFit
Summary: This is my theory about what could happen to Percy at the Roman camp and how he causes lives to change at both Camp Half-Blood and for the Romans. Chaos is sure to follow soon enough. Username was changed a while ago. ABANDONED
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, so I do know that there are a lot of other stories out about what happens in the Son of Neptune, but I already have the idea for this story in my head so I'm going through with. I do use a lot of the names mentioned in Rick Riordan's two Greek mythology series but I also have quite a few new ones too. Read, review, and enjoy!**

Chapter 1

Jason had disappeared only yesterday but already almost all of the Roman Army was getting nervous. As our commander there was no way he'd just leave without a word to anyone. And I was pretty sure he couldn't have gotten kidnapped by just anyone unless he was feeling quite stupid. _But it's my duty as Lieutenant to stay calm even if the rest of the army can't._I thought, _besides, he's one of the best fighters around, whatever mess he's in, he'll manage somehow._

Then my alarm blared to life, the morning briefings were in twenty minutes and Lupa would punish anyone who felt she could get away with tardiness. I scrambled to get on my 'casual' piece of armor (though really it was just slightly lighter than ordinary battle armor) along with the three weapons I carried daily. Then I quickly checked my laptop for any updates from Jason's search party, but surprisingly, there was nothing. _You'd think finding the King of the God's son would be_too _easy._

Since electronics attract monsters, our she-wolf leader Lupa wasn't too crazy about the idea of demigods having them. She had always believed that us Romans could win with the weapons our ancestors had created and passed down to us. But after a lot of kids protested that our fort was impenetrable, besides the fact that all of the demigod soldiers could use the extra practice; she was eventually forced to agree and the children of Vulcan took it from there. Now the whole place runs on their contraptions and advanced electronic generators.

I hurried through the halls and into the Captain's Room. There was a large wooden table with war fire burning in the center. Behind each chair at this table were statues of the godly parent of the child who usually sat there. They all had firm, otherworldly expressions on their faces to 'help us realize just how inferior we are compared to them' and above these were murals about the same gods. Usually the room was one of the quietest in the entire base since few people were allowed in, but that day all the captains were busy arguing except for Somnus' Captain, who was somehow snoring away.

My only hint was that in one corner of the room a boy stood scratching his head, clearly looking confused and nervous. _Not that I could blame him when his fate was being decided by fully-armored, screaming teenagers._He had dark brown hair and sea green eyes, like mine, though I was positive that I couldn't have seen him before_. Then why does he look so familiar? He couldn't be that boy from those visions I keep having, could he_? Nearby, Mars' Captain, Dereck was shouting something about amnesiacs being worthless to strong warriors.

I snapped my fingers in front of the Somnus kid's face. "What's going on?"

Every captain immediately froze and formed a neat line, then saluted me. "Good morning Lieutenant Reyna, ma'am," I nodded in approval.

"Sorry Reyna, we just don't know what to do with that new demigod. We found him out nearby while looking for Jason, but he doesn't seem to remember who he is. And Dereck isn't helping by saying we should just execute him immediately." That was Venus' Captain, Dakota, a close friend of mine who I usually allowed to be less a little formal than customary.

_Everyone must be really worried about Jason to be this off._I folded my arms, "alright...but I don't see how it matters that he's an amnesiac, we've allowed it before. He can fight without his memories, just send him to-" I glanced at the new guy again; he really did look like the boy from those dreams. "Actually, I've been having a lot of visions lately, and he's been in them. He is Percy Jackson, age 16, and a son of Neptune." _The gods have been sending be visions to help this demigod? Okay... what's so special about this kid?_

Everyone blinked repeatedly in surprise; it was very uncommon for anyone to receive visions since the gods rarely bothered contacted us except to do their dirty work. Roman Gods just did not like to deal with their children often. It was just a stroke of luck that the Roman Army had stumbled upon my new half-brother and decided not to kill or send him to Hall Mercury without a fuss like they usually do. _They were probably too busy worrying about Jason to concentrate. Commanders just don't disappear into thin air._

Before anyone could protest to it, I motioned Percy to the guest's seat since there was no way I could get away with leaving so soon. During the morning briefings I told everyone about the current facts about Jason's whereabouts (which were few and hard to come by) and how training was going with legions one and two. Meanwhile, Dakota told her sibling to clean up Neptune's Evocati's room and bring some new clothes for Percy, because that dirt-coated shirt needed to go. I left the captains to debate about who would take over my training schedule for the day, glancing back to make sure Percy followed behind.

_Percy better be ready to fight with his amnesia because I always have to prove to the others that children of Neptune aren't weak. If his amnesia gets the best of him we'll have a problem. Mars kids are always trying to 'prove their point' that Neptune is even weaker than Ceres._"So Percy, this is the Roman Army, the advanced group of demigods who train to fight any threat to us or the Roman Gods. As you've hopefully figured out, the Roman Gods you may have heard about in school are alive and our demigod ancestors who live in Rome have passed down their battle strategies to us. Also, the great Roman heroes like Ulysses and Hercules actually lived and did many of the incredible things they are known for.

Percy snickered at the craziness of it while my back was turned, then quickly looked away whenever I glanced at him. "Anyway, these are the Roman Caves, though we demigods call it 'The Den.' Our current base is here in the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 75 miles south of San Francisco. There are 30 halls, though some are only honorary, carved into these mountains.

I took and deep breathe and we turned right towards the dining room. "These 30 halls, one for each important god or goddess, like Hall Neptune, Hall Mercury, et cetera, each have their own special additions relating to the aspects of the godly parent whose children live there. The soldiers here range from age 6 to 17, mostly. Just be ready to get used to all of our battle training and our everyday lifestyle."

Percy looked straight at me, "battle training?" _Hope he's ready for the gladiator fights and other stuff we do down in the Coloseum._

I opened the door to the dining room. The children of Ceres were running around madly: grabbing and cutting food as fast as possible. There was probably was a show on Food Network that they 'had to watch' or something so they wanted to get dinner ready early. The vast room was one of the few that were so obviously a cave, with stalagmites hanging down and rock walls. Though there was also a serving table on one side with four huge tables in the middle for kids to eat at.

It took almost five minutes for the Ceres Captain to notice us, after she tripped and fell right in front of Percy and me. Then she gaped, wide-eyed at me, "Miss Lieutenant Reyna, sorry. Do you need something?"

Percy's stomach then growled ravenously, so no more needed to be said to Lily. _Thought so Jackson, you could've at least said something since you probably haven't eaten in days._The small captain of Hall Ceres quickly asked whether the newest demigod wanted hot or cold cereal and soon Percy was shoveling fruit loops into his mouth like there was no tomorrow.

My walkie-talkie beeped, it was the Minerva captain. "Lieutenant, sorry to disturb you right now but Dereck is threatening to send his sibling out on a rampage if Hall Mars isn't in charge of your legions' training for the day."_Poor Captain Hazel, the Mars kids think they're so important because their father was also the father of the founders of Rome. They always cause trouble when Jason and I aren't around._

I breathed deeply, "Put me on speaker... Dereck if you do not shut up, get over yourself, and do something non-destructive right now I will personally drag you over to Lupa's quarters and let her decide your punishment." Everyone who heard was dead silent, last time Lupa had punished a child of Mars the kid was ordered to unclog the plumbing system with his fingers (and our plumbing makes the dirtiest dumpsters look clean)._Everyone was already pretty annoyed at Hall Mars beside me, Hall Mercury, Hall Somnus, and surprisingly, Hall Minerva. Jason lost it after they stole a flamethrower and torched Hall Jupiter. They seem to have lost all care about what other people think of their behavior because they were too mad about not getting to fight the titans. But that was because they attacked some nearby scientists in full body armor. With their old Roman swords and shields in hand the idiots began yelling and brandishing their weaponry until the poor scientists ran away screaming. Later that night the press got a hold of the story and broadcasted it to all of the United States, including the monsters. So, as punishment they had to stay behind and guard the base from the various monsters that were sure to attack while the rest of us were gone._

"Do you want something too, Reyna ma'am?" I shook my head and began filling out the paperwork for Percy that one of the captains had handed me on the way out of the meeting.

**So I used a lot of Roman names, though I'm pretty much required to since I'm writing something like this.**

**Jupiter - Zeus**

**Somnus - Hypnos**

**Mercury - Hermes**

**Venus - Aphrodite**

**Vulcan - Hephaestus**

**Minerva - Athena**

**Ceres - Demeter**

**Mars - Ares**

**Neptune - Poseidon**

**Hercules - Heracles**

**Ulysses - Odysseus**

**war fire - Greek fire**

**Hope you enjoyed it so far and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"And finally, Percy, this is Hall Neptune."

I was pointing to the huge iron gate in front of us; it was intricately decorated with horses, fish, a trident, and anything else relating to me and Percy's father. I took off one of my metal gloves; there was a hidden compartment in it with my pass card, which I quickly placed in the slot in the center of the gate, opening it slowly after a lens scanned me.

Percy and I hurried inside before the gate shut itself. It revealed a long hallway with water pouring down its walls with pictures of demigods behind it; somehow the running water didn't wet the floor. The floor was made of rocks packed tightly together and smoothed by the sea with shells lining the waterfalls' edges. It was a simple way to decorate the place and those pictures of Neptune's children made it feel as homey as the Roman Army could ever be.

At some points the waterfall opened to reveal blue doors with carvings of waves on them and the second to last one said: EVOCATI _'S ROOM. The evocati is the hall's second-in-command and the position was automatically Percy's since I am the only other known child of Neptune on the planet. _Never thought this room would ever be in use again. Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune were supposedly stopped having kids over sixty years ago, though only Pluto had kept his side of the bargain. Jason and I were supposed to be just one-time mistakes. How did Neptune get away with having two kids?_

I opened the door and I have to admit I was pleased. The room had been pretty much made of dust but the Venus kids had made it livable again. It was one of the few nice things I could easily say to them, but when they weren't reapplying makeup they definitely knew how to clean up a really big mess. Percy looked over the room expectantly, trying to figure out how long it would take him to really mess it up. "So this is California right?"

I nodded, "But before you get too comfortable, there's one last thing I want you to see." He looked about ready to groan; I had shown him the library, colosseum, observatory, training rooms, and even passed by Lupa's quarters on the way back. _But I still need to prepare him for tomorrow, Lupa's tests are never easy and he'll probably enjoy training there instead of in the colosseum with the rest of the army._

So I pulled him out of the room and touched a small white rock hidden behind the waterfalls with my index finger. Like always, the water broke to reveal a damp and narrow stairway. We hurried down carefully and once we got there I immediately was calmer and the scene in front of us did the same for Percy.

"This is Neptune's Lagoon, an underground beach that only Hall Neptune and Hall Vulcan know exists. It is one of two ways into The Den and is hidden and protected by the Vulcans' contraptions and some of Trivia's magic. Sorry that we don't have time to relax but we really need to get you ready for Lupa." The place was a huge, beautiful beach hidden under the Santa Cruz Mountains that opened into the Pacific Ocean.

I took out my spare gladius and handed it to him. He then backed away and somehow knew how to prepare himself for me, though he kept moving the sword in his hand to balance it out or something. I unsheathed one of my twin swords. _They're meant to only be used together but that would probably just confuse Percy even more since this should be his first time._My swords are opposites; one is made of imperial gold, the other divine brass tinted to look silver. They were the only gift I have from my father, _though I'm considered lucky to have contact with my godly parent at all_. With no time to waste I charged at him even though him was unarmored and at first seemed to be incompetent.

Instead of blocking me with the gladius like he was supposed to, he dropped his sword, reached into his pocket, and took out a pen. Automatically he uncapped it, turning it into a sword. Then, as if he'd done it a billion times before, he swung his weird sword straight at me. Luckily I blocked his attacked; the force of it had jarred my arm. Eyes locked on his sword, I immediately sheathed mine and motioned him to stop attacking.

The fact that he had a sword that could change into a pen wasn't what had bothered me; Jason's sword could change into a coin. No, it was the type of metal the sword was made of. I'd only seen it once before hugging out of Lupa's mouth, but I was positive that it was Celestial Bronze.

"What's with the weird sword, Percy?" I clenched my fists behind my back, trying to remain calm.

The Roman Army uses only two types of metal: Imperial Gold and Divine Brass. Imperial Gold is a symbol of authority, reserved for the use of Lieutenants and Commanders only. Divine Brass is just a much more common substitute mined from Mount Olympus. Celestial Bronze, according to Lupa, was only made during Greece's golden age in a similar fashion to Divine Brass.

"Oh, this is Anaklusmos, or Riptide in English," Percy said without even realizing his words.

"I thought you lost your memory."

"I did, I just … know this somehow."

_Anaklusmos, I'm sure I heard about a sword with that name from Captain Hazel once, it is from Greek Mythology, so Percy really is Greek._If any other soldier had started showing off his Celestial Bronze sword I would have dragged the kid to Lupa without a word of warning to the proud sword's owner. But … _'you will meet your brother, a boy of sixteen years by the name of Percy Jackson. He will not be like any of the other demigods you know, but under no circumstances should you tell anyone anything about his past or his secrets.'_ I knew that Neptune had been the one telling me about Percy in that vision so I couldn't send Percy to his death: both for my father and for Percy as my new half-brother. Though, this decision would cause me a lot of trouble if anyone found out about Percy. If that happened I would probably be considered just as much of a traitor as him.

I held my hand out and Percy reluctantly handed his sword to me. "Percy, I have to tell you there's no way you can fight with this sword." He protested of course, but I held out my hand. "And it's not because you're too strong with it or something. It's because it's a Greek sword, and I'm almost positive it's a very famous one at that. We Romans have come to despise the Greeks both for calling us barbarians, but also because we consider them weak for barely putting up a fight before they were conquered long ago. If anyone finds out, you'll be pronounced a traitor and … promptly executed."

Percy's mouth hung open, I guess he hadn't realized just how violent Romans could get if we felt provoked. "We'll have to go get you a new sword from the Vulcans, its fine though; we already need to get you some armor anyway. But you'll have to keep that pen hidden except here: either in your pocket or in your room."

Poseidon's son placed the pen's cap onto the tip of the sword, changing it back to a pen. He then grumpily stuffed it into his pocket.

We stopped by his room on the way to Hall Vulcan so he could change into clean clothes. It was the same plain purple t-shirt that most demigods wore under their armor; Hall Venus had kindly remembered to bring him something. I stood outside his door, wondering just how I was going to deal with the mess Neptune had decided to leave for me.

At Hall Vulcan's forges it took no more than half an hour for Percy to be fitted in armor (and with all the gizmos the Vulcans liked to install into each piece, that's quite a feat.) During that time they also managed to make his custom sword, no questions asked; which was lucky since I had no clue how explain it to them without giving Percy away. So, far sooner than expected, we were at the library. It was two vast floors and bursting with all sorts of documents.

The library is maintained mostly by the children of Minerva, unless I somehow manage to convince another hall to help out for a day. The bottom floor has books only in Latin, while the upper floor has books in English, but there were also articles and literature in Ancient Greek stuffed into a corner because Minerva's children love to store information so much.

I picked up a huge volume of Greek Mythology, searched for 'anaklusmos,' and passed the book over to Percy in hopes of refreshing his memory. Though all it did was help him remember just how bad his ADHD was. I didn't even bother to attempt it since I had the same issues, so I tried teaching Percy basic Latin. But, soon enough we were both too irritable with it to continue. I somehow managed to convince him to let me teach him over time and he could teach me Ancient Greek in exchange. Something about it helping him remember his past, I think. Though I doubted Greek would help him very much, I was much more interested in make sure I was well-prepared for Percy's Greek friends in case they ever decided to pay the Roman Army a visit.

**Yes I know that there is no such thing as Divine Brass but it just didn't make sense to me for every Roman Demigod to fight with Imperial Gold swords and have their armor made of it too. Especially considering it is only made in Jupiter's Temple in Rome. So I chose brass, which really was a common substitute for gold back in the time of the Roman Empire.**

**Jupiter - Zeus**

**Somnus - Hypnos**

**Mercury - Hermes**

**Venus - Aphrodite**

**Vulcan - Hephaestus**

**Minerva - Athena**

**Ceres - Demeter**

**Mars - Ares**

**Neptune – Poseidon**

**Trivia – Hecate**

I'll try to update this as often as possible and thank you for all the reviews so far!


	3. Chapter 3

**I apologize for the long wait, I had to redo this chapter three times before it made any sense to anyone.**

* * *

Chapter 3

When that mysterious warship was first spotted sailing towards the Den about six months after Percy had arrived, I knew it would be an interesting encounter. It was soon decided by the captains and Lupa that the Halls Minerva, Neptune, Mars, and Mercury would deal with them. Since Jason's disappearance I had become praetor of both the First and Second Legions, which I hoped would end before I lost it. Yet, unless Jason somehow returned before the Summer Solstice with a really good excuse for disappearing, I'd have no choice but to become Commander and appoint a new lieutenant. Though I was never too crazy about the idea, my hands were full enough before Jason vanished.

I was walking around the Den's halls, making sure the four halls were more than prepared for the upcoming encounter, when I ran into Percy. "What is it Jackson?"

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but am I also going to be in the fight?"

That was a pretty stupid question, so I replied with a stupider one; Percy usually stopped acting foolish for awhile. "Are you part of Hall Neptune?" he nodded. "Then that answers your question. It's been announced many times today that Halls Mars, Minerva, Mercury, and Neptune will be the ones to engage the enemy. Now get a move on, we don't know when the enemy is going to attack!"And with that he hurried off to prepare himself for battle. _So he's finally obeying orders without a fuss? Excellent._

Then my walkie-talkie beeped, it was Venus' Captain Dakota, "Lieutenant, the spies have returned. Apparently our foes are fond of speaking in Ancient Greek." _Greek, so then the enemy may be Percy's friends… "_My Hall is requesting permission to assist the First Legion in dealing with them."

"Denied," I responded immediately. "Thanks for the intel, but I already have more than enough men at my disposal as it is."

And Dakota didn't bother arguing after that. Only a half hour after the trespassers were spotted, the First Legion was more as ready for the trespassers as they ever could be.

In the huge front room, the legion was neatly grouped into six centurias and all were armed with shields, javelins, swords, and full-body armor.

Then our mother wolf Lupa crawled in. She was huge with reddish brown fur and silver eyes; immediately everyone snapped to attention. She nodded to us all and began to speak. "Are all six centurias ready?" Each centurion raised their swords and shield high in the air in response. "You are the strongest warriors in the world. Fight like you have been taught and you will never die. For Rome!" This caused a roar of battle cries to be heard.

"Now march!" I said and the First Legion filed out of the front gate, which was over a third of the Roman Army.

We began are trek with muffled excitement and soon enough arrived at the shores to meet the Greek owners of that warship. I could only guess why the masthead was a metal dragon's head.

From up on the ship, a girl's voice rang loud and clear from a bullhorn. "Please don't attack us, we come in peace." _She's charmspeaking. It would have been stupid for us Romans to allow these kinds of tricks to affect us, so Hall Trivia always casts a spell on all of the soldiers about to fight that counters it. Charmspeaking has caused soldiers trouble on far too many occasions._

Amused, Dereck shouted back in English, "stop charmspeaking unless you want to be blown to bits!" I hope he was able to see the glare I gave him. "Er, unless you surrender right now, of course, then less-" I cleared my throat loudly, "… actually, no harm will come to you." _He's completely disregarding the required conduct when first engaging an enemy. I do not envy him during his next chat with Lupa._

Then a new girl began to speak, "look, we haven't come here to seek violence, we just want to talk to you all peacefully.

"Yeah right, _peacefully_. Then, when we trust you, you'll stab us all in the back, just like in the old days! I say we just kill them now!" someone shouted, hidden in one of the centurias.

Irritated, in Lain I shouted, "calm yourselves!"

But out of nowhere came something that almost changed my mind. It was a hellhound who jumped onto the nearest soldier, which happened to be Percy, and began happily licking him. Instead of immediately slaying her, I threw a small metal square at the mutt. It changed into a strong net that quickly trapped and restrained her. I motioned Percy and the other soldiers nearby to drag the she-dog out of the way.

"Quit fooling around or die by our blades!" Captain Bobby of Hall Mercury said.

The heads that had been peering down at us disappeared until the second girl began to speak again. "Alright fine, we surrender. Now you please speak with us peacefully."

"It was that easy? Lame!" Dereck muttered in Latin.

I sighed in relief; it was obvious that if we had actually attacked it would have angered the gods. I called the captains over and the four of us walked up the wooden plank that had been placed nearby to the warship's deck. We passed right by the dragon head and I got a good look at its flashing red eyes and bronze scales.

What I saw on deck was at complete surprise. There, was someone I had thought Juno had finally gotten sick of and destroyed: my old friend and Commander, Jason Grace.

Because of my shock, I didn't notice Dereck charging at him, shouting 'traitor' at the top of his lungs. Though I'll admit, if I hadn't been the one in charge I would have done the same thing. Jason deserved only the worst punishments for ditching the Army. Their swords clashed as they had many times before, though now Jason was fighting with a plain gladius and he was the one who had his sword knocked into the water.

Just when Dereck was about to deliver the killing blow, I came to my sense and told him to cease his attack. Dereck automatically stopped and dragged himself back over to the rest of us Romans. "Anyway, even though you said you wanted to talk, we really don't have the time or interest to stick around to listen for long. All we ask is for you to be gone by tomorrow before my army gets violent."

But before my comrades and I could exit, the second girl blocked our way. "We need to talk to you Romans about an enemy that could cause devastation around the world, especially for us demigods." She was blonde with stormy gray eyes and she meant business.

We all folded our arms and resisted the urge to yell at the girl or the large centaur that trotted over to us.

"Please, just listen to what I'm about to tell you. Then perhaps we can all come to a compromise." And he began his tale, "Long ago there was a war of gods against-"

"Hurry up horseman, we don't have all day!" Mercury's Captain said and my hand made it's way to my forehead.

The "horseman's" brows furrowed, "of course. Less than six months ago, your commander-" Dereck coughed 'former.' "Alright, your former commander fought against the giant Enceladus." Bobby and Dereck began snickering, mumbling 'fi fy fo fum', hopefully out of the half-horse's hearing range.

Their comments were bordering on annoying enough for me to have to order them to shut up_. The other Romans are apparently completely unable to hold their tongues or attempt to take the Greeks seriously._

"Please listen Roman demigods." The others didn't try but I pretended to, though I was really just trying to figure out a way to calm them down. "Enceladus was defeated but only because of the combined efforts of Jason, two Greek demigods, and Zeus himself. Luckily no one was killed but there are far stronger giants then Enceladus and they are planning to attack Greece."

That caused all us captains to burst into laughter. I somehow managed to stifle it long enough to say, "Why should we _Romans_ care about Greece, dare I ask?"

"Come on guys, this isn't the time to act foolish. If Greece falls it would weaken the gods," Jason had his fists clenched; he was more than ready to prove his point with force. Captains Dereck and Bobby, on the other hand, were barely keeping themselves from choking on their own incessant laughter at the foolishness of the Greeks. Minerva's Captain Hazel was attempting to calm them down with little success.

But Hazel was still the calmest of the Romans present. "Jason, you are officially no longer one of our soldiers and we want nothing to do with you anymore. You have affiliated yourself with enemies and abandoned the Roman Army. Never speak to us like that again, no matter how some of us are acting." She glanced back to the two Captains who were trying to rub the tears out of their eyes, forgetting that they still had their helmets on, which don't even have eye or mouth holes. "And, onto the subject of those giants, you do realize we Romans attacked Greece centuries ago, right? If the giant want to attack Greece, so be it," I nodded in approval.

"And the gods?" the blonde asked.

"They never have cared about us in any way beyond doing their dirty work and I doubt the fate of Greece will affect them very much in any case." Hazel kept her calm voice, even though many other Captains could never hope be so relaxed about the gods, who ignored us except when they had to claim us or needed favors. Then the sky began to thunder.

"What about the innocent mortals who will be killed while the giants are attacking?" the centaur was deathly calm when he said this.

"If your enemies are so strong than I doubt they'd waste their time attacking mortals and any mortal casualties would be almost impossible to prevent anyway." I had enough of staying silent, I was in charge and I had to set an example so things like Captains Dereck and Bobby laughing for little reason in front of intruders could be avoided.

The Greeks were getting fidgety now. A few bigger ones were eyeing their weapons; wanting to get us to help but probably also contemplating what would happen if we attacked. Jason was pretending to be looking for his sword in the water, but kept motioning with his head towards the mountains. I got the message:_ go before you do anything else you might regret later._

"Captains, we've left the legion unattended for too long, we should go." They all nodded, but before we left Hazel scrawled something into the notebook she carried with her at all times. _How she is able to write in that bulky armor is beyond me._ Then she tore it out and handed it to Jason. Whatever it was, it definitely troubled Jason.

The four of us hurried back to the troops and I announced that the army would be beginning its march back to base. No one protested; peaceful intruders will always bore the demigods of Rome.

* * *

**Mercury - Hermes**

**Venus - Aphrodite**

**Vulcan - Hephaestus**

**Minerva - Athena**

**Mars - Ares**

**Neptune – Poseidon**

**Trivia – Hecate**

**war fire - Greek fire**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The halls of the Den never have looked as inviting as they did after I'd first talked to the Greeks. But before I could relax and come up with a plan to deal with the latest mess the Romans had gotten into, I had to check on Percy and that hellhound. He apparently had volunteered to babysit Camp Half-blood's favorite mutt. I opened the large wooden doors to the Colloseum to see Jackson throwing a large round shield like a Frisbee, which the dog easily caught in her mouth.

"Oh, hi Reyna. What do you think of Mrs. O'Leary?"

I sighed and glanced at the huge hound that was drooling all over Hall Bacchus' training shields. "Is this really the best way to deal with a dangerous monster like hellhounds?" Then Mrs. O'Leary noticed the new friend who had arrived, pounced, knocking me to the floor and licking me from head to toe.

"Hey, I'm not the one who decided not to kill her." He then began pulling the dog away by the collar, scolding her all the while, and I somehow managed to slip out.

I wiped the drool off my face, "I'm not going to kill an animal that you say is harmless, even if it is a hellhound. It seemed easier to ignore 'Mrs.O'Leary's' faults anyway. Lupa drilled every Roman to only fight when it was necessary. Besides, everyone figuring out you're Greek was postponed since none of them asked for you."

He smiled mischievously, "yep, alliances first, then the delinquent boyfriend." He threw the shield again to distract Mrs. O'Leary from the dummy soldiers. "Maybe I could go talk to Annabeth, if I convince her it won't work she might get everyone else to leave."

"Sorry Jackson, there's no way I could allow you to risk revealing that you're Greek, even if you're just trying to help."

He blinked, "why? I've kept it up all this time, if no one but you and the Greeks know about, it won't cause any trouble. I can't just leave them all, including my mom, thinking I'm dead or something!"

_This conversation again. Now that the Greeks are so close by there's no way he'll let it go. But if I were in his cruddy position, I'd try to meet up with them too._"Let's make a deal, you promise not to talk to the Greeks unless I give you permission, you can contact your mom on my webcam."

He stared at me, "seriously?" he thought about it for a second and nodded. "Sure, whatever you think's best, I guess. But you better get Mrs. O'Leary something to eat soon or she'll eat all of those weapons." And with that he was off to Hall Neptune to make that call. I called Ceres' Captain and told her to bring a lot of meat for the Roman Army's new pet.

Then I hurried out, deciding I'd done enough for the Den for one day. People were putting their armor away or dueling amongst themselves, so I easily made it to Hall Neptune unnoticed for my unscheduled (but allowed) break. I passed Percy's room; he'd already contacted his mother.

"I really am sorry mom, a lot has happened. I…uh…really didn't mean to worry you guys for so long."

I quietly snuck past his door and sat at my desk, head in my hands. _This whole thing is really stinks. If I ally the Den with the Greeks less harm will come to all demigods but then I have virtually no chance of getting the army to obey orders. And ignoring the Greeks will just delay the problem with the giants, besides whatever will happen when the Giants destroy the original Mount Olympus._

Then I heard the crunching of the stairs moving, a boy's shout, and the beep of a net being deployed. I instantly grabbed my sword, pressed that white stone hidden under the waterfall, and began hurrying down the stairs to the Lagoon.

"Need any help?" Percy was at the top of the stairs.

"Doubt it; go back to your mommy Jackson. I'll handle this."

I'm not sure what I was expecting to be trapped in that net, but it definitely wasn't supposed to be Jason. I looked around. He was alone so I sheathed my sword. He must have lost his mind, why he possibly could want to be here was beyond me.

"Uh…hi Reyna. How's the Den been doing without me?"

I rubbed my aching head, "Jason, why in the name of Rome are you here?"

His eyes said it all: he had some desperate reason for being here and since Neptune's Lagoon was the only entrance that wasn't guarded much, he came here. _Guess he's officially not Roman anymore or the defense system wouldn't have reacted._

"Could you get me out, please?"

I ignored his request, "Jason, did you lose your mind in the last six months? Any Roman is supposed to drag you to the Gladiator's Jail the minute you step off of that ship to be tried for treachery."

He yawned. "And I'll be promptly executed, jailed for life, or something else equally ridiculous. Captain Hazel was happy to give me all the details. But that's the least of my problems."

"Oh really?" _Maybe he hit his head on the way down and used to have a logical reason for being here._

"The gods have made it quite clear that we need to make this alliance. If we don't, the gods will be overthrown and the entire human race will be exterminated. There's no way you can say that this isn't a problem for the Army."

I voiced a dry laugh, "and you think anyone here will care at all because of that? The gods have never even attempted to deal with us except to claim us, which they sometimes don't even bother with, or to clean up their immortal messes. Usually someone will volunteer to help them anyway. But to go all the way to Greece with the Greek demigods? Not even if all the riches in the world rained down on the Santa Cruz Mountains."

We both stayed quiet for a long time after that. The tide began to come in as we pondered the position all demigods were in. _He came all the way here just to persuade me. He's still as thoughtless and arrogant as ever._Then I realized that he had just as much pressure to do the right thing as me and calmed down a little.

"So was helping the Greeks really your only motive for being here?"

He glanced at me and finally started smiling again. "Nah, you caught me. The gods stole all of my memories and right now I only remember the basics. Could you fill in the blanks before you haul me off to jail?"

"Just the basics huh? Really. So what do you want to know?"

"Tell me everything."

**Jupiter - Zeus**

**Bacchus - Dionysus**

**Mercury - Hermes**

**Venus - Aphrodite**

**Vulcan - Hephaestus**

**Minerva - Athena**

**Ceres - Demeter**

**Mars - Ares**

**Neptune – Poseidon**

**Pluto - Hades**

**Thank you for all of your comments so far and please continue telling what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the long delay**

Chapter 5

"Everything huh? Well than let's hope your Greek buddies don't come looking for you until you're in jail then." He didn't seem to mind the net as much after that. "Well... you're probably the youngest person to be claimed on their first day at the Den, but I'll just skip to what I know personally about your past."

So I told him about my first day at the Den and how he'd volunteered to show me around even though we couldn't stand each other. But more importantly, I described the chaos that followed the death of Lieutenant Annie Williams of Hall Minerva when she died in combat five years before.

"You were the obvious choice, being a son of Jupiter and all, but you had to go on a mission to find a new Imperial Gold sword. It's one of Lupa's traditions so she wouldn't let you say no. The Commander, Markus Lynch of Hall Mercury, had to come and for some reason you decided to drag me along as well, even though I still hadn't been claimed at the time. Our prophecy from Antevorta, the goddess of prophecy, told us to ask the gods of the four cardinal directions where the sword we were looking for was. Mark and I made you take South and West since you can fly and we had to travel around the U.S.A. because of you. We all planned to meet up in Detroit but..."

"Those cyclopes. I ran into them on a quest six months ago."

I sighed and glared at the sand. "Well then, I hope you sent them on a slow, painful trip back to Tartarus." The images I had always blocked out since then, of me arriving as those monsters began devouring him, then killing them all in a hysteric rampage, came back. "Commander Markus' remains were brought back later on, but those cyclops were long gone by the time you came. Then, my dear father decided it would be the best time to claim me, so they weren't the worst things either of us had to fight. In the end, we had to go all the way to Aeolus and even the cursed Underworld to get you that dumb gold sword from Pluto himself." I was steaming just thinking about the whole thing. It's the reason why I agreed to become Lieutenant in the first place: Mark can't lead us anymore, so I had wanted to repay him for all he'd done for the Army.

But my thoughts were interrupted by Jason. "But still, after all that, I came back as Praetor of the First Legion. Then you were nominated to be my partner because of your father, but we had to fight to decide who became Commander. Though about that sword..."

It was the favorite sword of the immortalized Augustus himself, but with one look at his face, I knew it was either missing or gone for good. "I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you." Though only because Captain Bobby of Hall Mercury would kill Jason if he found out that the sword his older brother had died trying to get was lost in some unnamed incident._That amnesia is making him oblivious of all the trouble he's gotten himself into. And it's all for the Greeks._ "Jason, why are you so set on helping the Greeks? If you'd come back alone with your story you wouldn't be in anywhere near this big of a mess."

That brought him back to acting like the fearless leader he believed he'd become. "For the good of all demigods. Those giants are way too strong for either group of demigods to fight alone and the gods will only help if the Romans are there too. We Romans also have no reason to hold this ridiculously long grudge just to put ourselves into an even more dangerous situation than we're already in."

_Maybe I'm being too harsh on him. He's in enough trouble as it is and according to him, it's the same with the Roman Army._ I made my decision and cut him loose from the net but he seemed unsure about leaving so soon. "Go already, before I realize that a quick death by my blade would be a far less painful than in an execution."

He nodded, grateful, but he apparently still wasn't finished with me. "A girl in Athena's Cabin needs to know: is Percy okay?" I was so worked up from talking about that mission that the surprised look on my face told Jason all he needed to know. He ran off to the edge of the cave and soon disappeared from sight. I hurried up the stairs, finally understanding that whatever happened, my safest bet for the Den was with the Greeks and my best friend. I was at my computer before I knew it, typing up a report that made my opinion on the Greek's proposal crystal clear. But it was just as clear that the Captains would not handle the news well.

Then Percy opened the door, "so what happened at the lagoon?"

"Nothing worth mentioning."

"That's fine, it's none of my business. Anyway, my mom wants to meet you."

"I'm busy trying to help Camp Half-Blood get that alliance. I think that's a little more important than your mother, who I'm sure I'll see many times soon enough." My eyes were locked on the screen, but I'm positive Percy was grinning ear to ear as he exited without another word.

Almost immediately after I finished typing up my report I was called to the Captain's room. I knew all too well how bad the position I was throwing myself into would be. I walked in and saw that each captain was already in his or her seat. Now this is unusual...

"Thank you for joining us Commander Salazar. Now take your seat." The Roman Army's most trusted (and only) advisor appeared out of the gloom. Lupa's brown fur and silver eyes shimmered in the torch light. I had no choice but to obey and sat down in the large seat of the Commander. It had been changed to look like the sea instead of stormy skies. "Captains, please begin making your decision on how to deal with our guests."

"Sorry ma'am, but there is no 'debate' here. We told them to leave immediately and they aren't showing any signs of vacating the area." Captain Bobby, as usual, was already yelling at the huge she-wolf.

"...Captains, all we are doing is digging ourselves into a deep hole. Let's at least try to reconsider that alliance."

"Are you insane Reyna?"

"Why in Mars' name should we help those guys?"

I yawned and waited for them to all calm down. "Please, could one of you give me one good reason why we shouldn't ally with the Greek demigods, besides them being Greek."

Captain Hazel didn't hesitate. "It's not our war, we're not enemies of these giants."

"Yes we are. They just haven't attacked us yet."

"Why are you on their side all of a sudden?"

"I was neutral to begin with and I realized soon enough that all we're doing by not accepting their offer is giving ourselves more trouble later on. What if it was fawns asking for this alliance?"

"Our answer would still be no. I can't believe you would even consid-"

"Captain Hazel, it is her job to consider the good and bad parts of any decision and a captain's to accept it if it makes sense. I am beginning to regret allowing you demigods to begrudge the Greeks for so long." _Thank the gods. If Lupa's on my side than I have no worries._ "Your foolish behavior will end now. The warrior's job is not to hold worthless grudges: it's to protect the innocent efficiently, whatever the cost."

Lupa's presence kept the captains from speaking, just long enough for them to actually think about what Lupa had just said. Then Hazel, the captains' self-appointed speaker, said "we'll ally with the Greeks then. But we're all still aware that they could easily drag us down."

"True, now off with you all, and make sure to show at little more respect of them from now on." Everyone was soon out of the room and I was alone with Lupa. "Please keep them diligent this time Salazar, now go."

I nodded and exited the meeting room and was quick to catch up with the others. I ordered the march, this time adding Janus and Apollo's captains, who were in the front with me. "When the majority of you meet our guests, please keep in mind that neither me or Lupa will not allow any breaches in protocol." They all stiffened and we made it to the boat without incident. The Greeks noticed almost immediately and the blonde girl, Jason, and Chiron hurried over to meet us.

"Are you here as friends or foes, Romans?" Chiron said.

I yawned, "we've been told that we're complete fools if we don't accept your offer and I know the rest of the Roman Army is just as sorry as I am for the clear lack of respect we had toward you Greeks. Please forgive us for that and if that offer of an alliance is still available, we accept it."

Chiron nodded but Hazel was focused on delivering the rest of our message. "Also, Jason Grace, even though you were our Commander, you are to be tried for deserting the Roman Army."

"But if you just plead guilty the punishment will come and go much faster." The captains had all discussed how to deal with Jason and it was obvious what he would ask. So I went straight to the point. "It has already been decided that if you plea then you would instead duel me as highest ranking officer. If you actually win though, you will be demoted to Lieutenant."

Jason didn't hesitate to agree, so Captain Bobby announced the rules. "You two will fight here tomorrow at noon so the Greeks may watch. Commander, you are asked to kill him during the fight if you can, but Jason can only beat you down until you yield. Understood?" We both nodded and the Captains vacated the warship and fled back to the Den.

I turned to leave, "Commander Reyna, how is Percy?"

"Percy Jackson?" the blonde teen nodded. "Never heard of him." I grinned but I doubt the girl could see that through my helmet. "By the way, Jason, I'll bring your old armor: you'll need all the help you can get." I was gone before I was forced to stay with the Greeks a second longer.

**Zues - Jupiter**

**Athena - Minerva**

**Dionysus - Bacchus**

**Please keep reading and reviewing this!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Alright, I know I was ridiculous to take over two months to post this and I'm truly sorry for that. It's been awhile since the last chapter but still try to enjoy this, even though I'm not sure whether I'm good at describing fights or not.**

Chapter 6

I stifled my irritation: of all the things we Romans could always manage to waste our time doing, it had to be cheering on the suffering of others. It was just in our DNA to love gladiator fights, chariot races, and, of course, men fighting wild beasts. It had been that way since Rome first came to be; a huge crowd watching two enslaved warriors beat each other to death. Only this time, I had the rotten luck of being one of the fighters.

At that moment, I was observing the two groups of demigods from a safe distance. The Romans were happily goofing around and making fools of themselves, while the Greeks were simply trying to remain calm. How they managed it 'knowing that one of those savage demigods would soon be dueling their new leader to the death' was beyond me.

For me though, riled up Romans were the least of my worries.

Jason had to be out of practice by now, while I'd been training with an 'Achilles,' or whatever it is Jackson said he was, every day for the past six months. All I could hope for was that Jason would be able to manage a couple of battle maneuvers and that maybe, just maybe, his dad would help him out or something. Problem was, this wasn't one of those battles where I could just go easy on my opponent. The Army had seen us fight so many times that if anything was amiss, they'd catch on fast. I groaned: I just wanted to fast-forward to after I got pounded by my best friend in a fake fight.

Percy, on the other hand, was preparing to do his favorite thing: 'accidently' break every rule possible before anyone had time to realize what he was up to. He was sneaking through the Greeks' ranks without a care in the world. Apparently, the temptation of going to see Annabeth had become overpowering for my mischievous half-brother.

With his helmet concealing his face, Percy appeared to be just another Roman soldier, so the Greeks decided it was best to stay out of the way. Annabeth, who was deep in thought behind the crowd, didn't even notice that her missing boyfriend was even there.

"This is going to stink," she thought aloud.

"Probably, but you never know what'll happen in these kinds of fights."

The blonde jumped, "what are one of _you demigods_ doing here?"

Jackson pretended to be insulted, "that's a pretty bad greeting for your missing best friend, wise girl." Percy slid his helmet out of the way, revealing the huge grin on his face.

"Percy?" she said and was soon hugging him tightly. "Thank the gods! Are you alright?"

He blushed, 'y-yeah. It wasn't like I was in the Underworld or something."

"You're about as close as it gets outside of Hollywood," she glanced toward the crowd of Romans, frowning.

"Oh come on Annabeth, they're not _that_bad. They're just more into discipline and military stuff than us."

"And being incredible obnoxious. But enough about the Romans, do you think Jason will be okay?"

"If he's as good a fighter as Reyna says."

Before the two could continue their unauthorized conversation, the match began. I walked over to one side of the field and tossed a small metal box to Jason. He caught it, pressed the button on it, and it transformed into his armor. In the sun it had a slight gold tint so any Roman could immediately know he was a son of Jupiter. Jason and I moved to opposite sides of the field, drawing our swords.

Then the sky began to thunder. I breathed in the salty sea air, trying to stay calm. The usual group of Apollo's children sounded their trumpets to signal us to begin. Jason glanced at a Greek brunette before recklessly charging directly towards me. That was one of the many things Lupa told us to never ever do in a duel. I blocked and dodged each strike he attempted unusually easily. I couldn't believe that this was the best he could do then. After all, he was swinging his sword just as effortlessly as I was ducking out of the way of it. _It must be a trick._

Then he inhaled deeply the same way I had seen numerous times before; a bolt of lightning crashed down immediately after. I managed to jump out of the way and loosened up a little. He wasn't any weaker than he had been when he disappeared. I only had to make sure he didn't go too far in our little match.

I dropped my silver blade, it needlessly attracted electricity and I needed as little weaknesses as possible. We both clashed, he with his sword charged with lightning and me, pulling water out of the nearby sea and hitting him with everything I could.

The heat from Jason combined with the force of the seawater veiled the area in a thick mist. Both Jason and I were relieved by the temporary peace.

"So you're not going to kill me then?"

I sighed, "not today…but we still have to do something to satisfy everyone else." Jason nodded and we began our battle again. Only this time, neither of us were at all reluctant to, as long as our attacks _looked_ like they hurt. Mostly, during that time, we only hit each other with the flats of our swords and dodged each others' swings as we listened to the cheers of the audience. Perhaps someone else would have felt exhilarated, but I knew well enough that something bad was coming soon enough.

We parried each others' thrusts and struck the other if we could. We were soon fighting harder than any time we'd ever dueled before. I eventually saw that his skin was glowing purple. And let's just say I was positive that Juno's hatred for Percy had spread out to include me somehow. Jupiter would just give the kid strength, but Juno would actually put some effort into making sure her favorite demigod stayed among the living.

I sent a wave crashing on top of him, sending him into a tree. For a moment, I hoped that if he was unconscious then maybe the Army would just allow him to live. I shook off the idea just as quickly though. Jason was charging right at me again, starting to summon another zap of lightning. I channeled another wave over me, slowing down Jason's blast and giving me just enough time to dive out of the way. I spotted Jason trying to hit me again and blocked, luckily. Just the force of it drove me onto the ground. I had to roll out of the way, and then trip him with my leg just to give myself enough time to get up again.

We clashed repeatedly, trying to find each other's openings. Juno seemed to be the only way that Jason could be so determined to kill me. Eventually, he knocked my sword out of my hand. I dodged his next swing and punched him in the eye before grabbing the small divine brass dagger off of my belt. I had an excellent chance to stab him then, but for once, Jason was faster than me. He flipped a switch on his belt and it spit out a shield. He grabbed it before I could do any more damage, spotted me with his good eye, and rammed it into me. I was smashed into the grass and he almost managed to hit me again, but a blast of water stopped him.

He started up again and was soon forcing me farther and farther back. I lost any hope of getting either of my swords back. I barely managed to block him with my puny six-inch dagger; an ordinary sword would just slow me down at this point. I still kept trying to knock him down, but any sliver of hope I had had of getting out of this painlessly had long since fled to the sea. Finally, his sword rammed into my chest and sent me flying across the field and headfirst into a tree. I fell to the grass and that was the end of that fight.

Later on, after Captain Kou of Hall Aesculapius had made sure that I was well enough to do a little paperwork, Jason paid me a visit. He was holding ice to his eye.

"That was a good fight Reyna, but did you really have to give me a black eye?"

"It needed to be realistic. Did you really have to break three of my ribs and give me a minor concussion?"

Jason winced, "that bad?" I shrugged and went back to work.

**Juno-Hera**

**Jupiter-Zues**

**Aesculapius - Asclepius (the god of healing and medicine, I put him in because Apollo seemed to have too many duties)**

**Thank you for your incredible patience and please continue to read and review this.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it took so long… again *insert lame excuse here*. To make up for it, this chapter is much longer than usual. Read, enjoy, and review.**

* * *

Chapter 7

I looked around at the scene in front of me and resisted the urge to yawn. I had invited the Roman captains and the Greek "camp counselors" to a meeting to discuss the upcoming fight in Greece, only for it to immediately (and not surprisingly), become a glaring contest. It was becoming a little ridiculous to have to keep putting up with all of that nonsense and Jason and Percy couldn't help because only the Greeks were willing to listen. I guess it didn't help matters that the Greeks were sitting in the chairs that the evocati used whenever they were needed in the Captains' Room. Both sides were stiff and had their hands on their weapons in case they completely lost control. _Will they ever stop acting like toddlers?... Ugh. _My head was still killing me from that duel. _Where is that centaur… Chiron, when you need him and his boring lectures?_

The only ones not making complete fools of ourselves were me, Jason, Percy, and strangely, Hazel and Annabeth. They finally seemed to have gotten over grudges and were marking a map of Mount Olympus with places to put up defenses. Normally, I'd stop the idiots right then and there by taking out my bullhorn and blasting it right in Dereck's ear. But, unfortunately, Clarisse was sitting right next to him and would probably start a fight. There was little chance it'd have helped get any real work done anyway.

I finally gave in and yawned, then glanced over at Percy. He somehow seemed even more bored than me. "We really need everyone to get along already."

He nodded and thought about it for a moment, "how about Capture the Flag? It is Friday and I think everyone needs to use their energy on something a little more helpful."

I weighed the idea and agreed. Though I was surprised, usually Jackson just cracked a joke and went back to day-dreaming, but he was actually being helpful for once. _And maybe the Romans will ease up a little too, now that they know both Percy and Jason like the Greeks and are still okay. _It was pretty hard for the Romans to not figure out about Percy (even though they can be pretty slow) when we first let the Greeks into the Den. Camp Half-Blood had made it so stupidly obvious that Percy was one of them it made my head spin. Luckily, they didn't take it too bad because Jackson was only an Evocati anyway and I wasn't feeling mad or betrayed at all (unlike with Jason) and I was the only one who was particularly close to Percy.

So, with an actual plan in mind, I then took out the bullhorn and just seeing it, all the Romans stopped what they were doing and shut up. The Greeks followed suit. The captains had good reason too; way back when Jason had first become commander I'd gotten so sick of watching him scream his lungs out to get everyone's attention that I had the captain of Hall Vulcan, Sam, make me a bullhorn that was loud enough to be heard over everyone in the vast Colosseum. Needless to say, in the small Captains' Room, it stunned everyone for a while after they heard it.

"Alright then, now that everyone is done goofing around, let's get onto the meeting, shall we?" Everyone nodded and most of the captains apologized. "Anyway, it's clear that us demigods need to focus on something besides mindless banter, so Jackson has proposed that we have a game of Capture the Flag here. I agree to it, but only if everyone is willing. It would be Greeks versus Romans and maybe we'll try out strategies to be used on Tellus' army. It's help let out some steam too." I waited to see if someone objected, but after the Greeks looked Percy over and the Romans checked to make sure I was serious, everyone agreed. "Evocati, would you mind explaining the rules to the captains?"

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. "okay, in our demigod version, all weapons and magical items are allowed… each teams flag must be prominently displayed and can have no more than two guards… Taking prisoners is allowed, but they may not be bound or gagged. No killing or mainiming is allowed either… Anything else, commander?" He sounded like he had heard this a thousand times and probably had.

"Yes, the game will take place down below at 6 and the boundaries are the beginning of the mountains around it. Hopefully both Lupa and Chiron will be willing to referee. Any questions?"

Gwendolyn, the evocati of Hall Vulcan, always made sure that she had the last word in any conversation, even though she was only present because Captain Samuel was working on the plane/ship that was going to get the Romans to Greece. This was both because I refused to referee any fights and there wasn't enough room for all of us on the Argo II. With only a week to get it all done, the Vulcans were basically throwing together spare parts from past projects, even enlisting Halls Trivia and Mercury to help. Even with her Hall so swamped with work, Gwen took every chance she got to bother her superiors. "So lieut- sorry, I mean _Commander _Salazar, what's the point of this game?"

I glared at her but decided it was better not to reply. "Hazel, how about you tell us what you and the blonde have been chatting about all this time?"

She nodded and pressed the black button on her chair, opening the curtains above the door and revealing a projection screen. It showed a map of Mount Olympus and the surrounding areas. "Annabeth and I agreed that we should surround the mountain from all side, with the Romans guarding the west half and the Greeks will take the east. The Giants will probably attack from the west, as far away from the water as possible…" Hazel began to drawl about how the troops would be organized: good places for long-distance weaponry, yada yada. That was all Hall Minerva's duty to organize. No one ever challenged them on anything unless there was something obviously wrong with their plans, which was exceedingly rare.

While Hazel explained her complicated plans, instead of adding anything, Annabeth was too bust staring at Percy with a confused look on her face. _Is he really that different from before?_ But then I thought back to his first week at the Den. He'd been stiff, unhappy, and confused, but eventually, like he was coming out of a fog, he started to open up and joke around. But it'd been six months since then and he'd become more controlled and formal, like a proper soldier. _Good thing too, he'd begun to seriously annoy Hall Mars._

"You know Commander, it's probably not a good idea to take a nap right now. You're supposed to be setting an example."

I had absent-mindedly shut my eyes; there were fewer distractions that way so I could think more clearly. But, as usual, one of Dereck's sarcastic comments had snapped me back to reality. I returned the favor with a complimentary glare.

Hazel's eyes flickered over to me for a moment, but quickly returned to her laptop. Then Jason decided to finally speak:

"But what about the gods? We can't win without them."

The Romans squirmed a little in their seats; none of them liked to mention the gods unless they had to. "That's up to the gods. Hopefully they'll show and if and when they do, we'll be ready to change tactics if we need to. That's the best we can do, right?" Everyone readily agreed with me. The gods were unpredictable so we just had to be ready for anything. "Anything else to add Hazel?" She shook her head. "Anyone else?" No one did so I sent the Greeks, including Percy, to the cafeteria to plan for a game. All the counselors were handed a map of the area on the way out.

"Hall Vulcan won't be able to participate, sorry Reyna," said Evocati Gwendolyn before she left the room. Actually, no one in the 4th legion could make it (Halls Vulcan, Ceres, Iris, and Aesculapius all had their excuses) or any of the five wind gods. Luckily, everyone else was eager enough, so we brainstormed a plan of action.

At around five everyone was ready for the game. Lupa had agreed to referee from the Observation HQ and so did Charon, except he was going to be on the actual game field.

About a hundred or so of the Romans had shown up and the Greeks were all present, so our numbers were about even. In terms of advantages, the Greek flag (which had been removed from the Argo II) was on higher ground but the Roman flag was in the middle of a group of streams. There was also a thick forest in between the two flags.

Hazel and I had come up with a couple of strategies, though nothing too complicated because that seemed like a waste of effort. The final plan was standard: the 2nd legion was thinly circled around the flag (they were normally in charge of defense) and the 1st legion spread out pretty randomly around them (we're usually offensive), mostly to cause distractions and slow the Greeks down, and the 3rd legion was mixed in (special operations). Me and about a dozen kids from Hall Mercury would be retrieving the flag since we were the fastest and Jason would be guarding the flag alone. This all seemed easy enough, but me and the other retrievers had all worn our lightest armor and placed our swords on our back for easy reach, just in case the game became sour.

I honestly had no clue what the Greeks would do, nor did I care. I just waited for the horn to blow and me, Bobby, and the rest of the group charged off towards the Greek flag.

The first few Roman soldiers locked their soldiers together in front, with more shields over their heads. This famous formation is called the testudo, or tortoise shell, and is also my favorite. As soon as the Greeks were done shouting blunt arrows, the Romans spread out and began knocking Greeks around with their shields.

My group was busy weaving through the trees. I was safely in the middle of the group, surrounded by the rest of my small pack. As expected, we were soon jumped by five Greeks. We trapped them in a net and kept going. Ever so often, one of us would peel away from the group until it was just me and Bobby.

"You ready to rumble?" he smirked.

"Ready as ever."

Bobby gave me a classic Hall Mercury grin, then ran off to his designated place. I took a deep breath and climbed up into the nearest tree and leaped through the trees for the final length to the Greek's flag. Right when I was near enough, I lept into the air, pulled out my swords, and created a huge jet of water. I landed in front of Percy and Annabeth (can't imagine how much teasing they went through to be together). Annabeth looked at me funny, but stepped out of the way.

"Reyna, didn't expect you to be on offense, especially not alone."

I didn't bother to reply, so we charged and began our duel. In all honesty, I'd expected to lose since I'd only win a sparring match against Jackson based on strategy and cunning alone. Just because I had two magic swords didn't mean I could beat a tank like Percy easily.

I tried to hit Percy so he'd lose consciousness, or at least be on his knees. But even when he wasn't fighting for his life, the guy still made sure he was really hard to hit. I did manage to jab him in the arms and chest with the butt of my sword when I was at my fastest, but so did Percy. Not that the outcome of our match mattered. What was really important was that I lasted as long as possible, which wasn't too difficult since Percy didn't have a water source.

Once two minutes passed, the rest of the group acted. From behind, one soldier grabbed Annabeth, holding a dagger to her neck, while the rest surrounded Percy. While he was distracted I jumped, kicked him in the chest, and ran. Bobby had already grabbed the flag and we were gone before the two (Annabeth had been shoved to the ground almost as quickly as she had been grabbed) could get help.

Bobby passed the flag to me and we all split up again. Everyone else was going to make as much noise as possible while a quickly ran above their heads. The plan would have gone perfectly, except a giant screamed a challenge at the top of his lungs:

"Puny demigods, you are foolishly playing a childish game with me nearby? Who is your idiotic leader and why does he think he can insult my strength with this? Now, children of Tellus, teach these demigods a lesson."

* * *

**Tellus – Gaea**

* * *

**I got sick of translating the names every chapter, my next chapter will have all the translations and the layout of the Roman Army. So really, it's not a chapter, but a form in case you readers forget any names or anything.**


	8. Roman Army Cheat Sheet

**This is the cheat sheet of been using to remember everything. Hope this helps all of you!**

* * *

**Halls Key-**

1=captain/tribune

2=evocati(2nd in command)

*=train separately from the rest of their legion

*note: The lieutenant and commander must be captains and are elected by their fellow captains and captains are elected by members of their hall(they are captains by default if there is only one member). I did this because Rome was originally a republic)

**1st Legion** - Offense - lead by the current commander

Neptune(Poseidon) – Reyna1 and commander of the Roman Army , Percy2

Apollo – Randy1 (hall involved in sniping and long-range attacks)

Mars(Ares) – Dereck1

Mercury(Hermes) – Bobby1

*Pluto(Hades) – Nico(if available)1

*Aeolus – Alphonse1

*Aquilon(Boreas, god of north winds and winter, god is in Quebec)– Matteo(nicknamed Matt)1

Invidia(Nemesis) – Robert1

**2nd Legion** - Defense - lead by the current lieutenant

Jupiter(Zues) - Jason1 and lieutenant of the Roman Army

Fortuna(Tyche, goddess of luck) – Evan1

Bacchus(Dionysus) – William1

Janus(god of doors, past, present, and future) – George1

*Somnus(Hypnos) – Cornelius1

*Eurus(god of rain) – Thomas1

Aurora(Eos, goddess of dawn) – Natalie1

**3rd Legion** – Special Operations - leader is elected by captains in legion - currently lead by captain Hazel

Minerva(Athena) – Hazel1 (members come up with strategies and are usually the ones giving out most commands)

*Cupid(Eros, god of desire, affection, and erotic love) – Joel1(distracts the enemy)

*Trivia(Hecate) – Vadomi1

Venus(Aphrodite) – Dakota1(in charge of camouflage, spying, and any other way to gather info)

*Auster(Nortus, god of south winds and summer)(god is in Cancun) – Vincent1

*Favonius(Zephyr, god of the west winds and spring, gentlest wind) – Zach1

Victoria(Nike, goddess of victory) – Valerie1

**4th Legion** – Miscellaneous - leader is elected by captains in the legion - currently lead by captain Sam

Vulcan(Hephaestus) – Sam1, Gwendolyn2 (hall involved in repair work and working the more complicated machinery)

Ceres(Demeter) – Lily1 (hall in charge of rations and cooking)

Iris(goddess of rainbows) – Molly1 (hall members are messengers of the Roman Army)

*Aesculapius(Asclepius, god of healing and medicine) – Kou1 (hall in charge of healing on field and at camp(because without them, Hall Apollo would have way too much to do))

**Honorary Halls**

Diana(Artemis)

Juno(Hera)

Vesta(Hestia)

Antevorta(goddess of prophecy)


End file.
